It is known that many pathological conditions are caused by insomnia. When physicians evaluate insomnia conditions, they generally assess i) latency to sleep, ii) duration of sleep, iii) unstable patterns of sleep, i.e., frequent nocturnal wakening events, and iv) residual hangover effects, such as morning drowsiness and impaired cognitive and motor functions.
Initial insomnia therapy generally uses central nervous system inhibitors, such as barbiturates. However, such barbiturates are known to cause side effects, including narcolepsy, derangement and depression.
Another category of drugs used for treating insomnia are sedative-hypnotic agents of benzodiazepines. However, such drug species also have side effects, including drug resistance after repeated administration thereof and round insomnia after stopping administration.
Additional drugs used for chemotherapy of insomnia include pyrazolopyrimidine-based sleeping pills, Zolpidem and Zaleplon.
However, most drugs developed for chemotherapy of insomnia hitherto have side effects and particularly cause severe drug intoxication in the case of long-term administration.
Many documents and patent publications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety to describe clearly the state of the art and the present disclosure.